April 2018

Yesterday the United States Supreme Court issued decisions in both Oil States v. Green Energy and SAS Institute v. Iancu. In Oil States the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of inter partes review (see here, here and here). In SAS Institute, a 5-4 majority ruled that there is no authorization in the statute for the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to partially institute a petition for inter partes review. Thus, the Supreme Court held that when the Patent Office institutes an inter partes review it must decide the patentability of all of the claims the petitioner has challenged.

To provide instant reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision in SAS Institute we’ve reached out to an All-Star panel of industry experts for their take on this important decision. Their analysis follows.

“SAS: When the Patent Office Institutes IPR It Must Decide Patentability of All Challenged Claims.” Quinn et. al. IPWatchdog (April 2018), available here.

Earlier today the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Oil States v. Green Energy, finding that inter partes review is constitutional both under Article III and the Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution. In a 7-2 decision, the Court determined that patents are a government franchise that are subject to review by the Patent Office even after granting, and can be revoked at any time.

10,000+ patents, spending $10M’s per year, cross-licenses, and license potential with dozens of companies, what’s the value of the portfolio to the business? Is your patent strategy valuable to your company? How? OK, tag you are it, what is the answer? The problem seems intractable. In previous articles, we have discussed how to determine your general patent risk and how to put a number on it. But where do you start when you are trying to estimate the value of your patent strategy?

“Patent strategists need more and better information on what patents are available, at what price, and comparables. Richardson Oliver Insights represents the next critical step in providing patent market information directly to patent holders and patent buyers, like Zillow did for the real estate market,” said Suzanne Harrison, author of “Edison in the Boardroom.”

“Patent strategists view buying and selling patents as a tool for risk management, but they lack the necessary information to make decisions easily. Our mission is to enable patent transactions and accelerate the patent market by providing reliable, comprehensive, data-driven solutions to patent buyers, sellers and decision makers,” said Kent Richardson, CEO of Richardson Oliver Insights. “To grow the market from the current $250M annually to billions requires greater access to information and more transparency. We provide both.”

At IPBC Global 2018, Kent Richardson will be speaking on the patent market and patent buyer dynamics. Hear the latest developments June 10-12, 2018, at the Palace Hotel San Francisco.

About Richardson Oliver Insights

Founded in 2018, Richardson Oliver Insights is a leading provider of secondary patent market data. Lead by industry veterans and thought leaders in the heart of Silicon Valley, Richardson Oliver Insights has comprehensive patent market data and analytical experience needed to help patent buyers find the right patents at the right price, help patent sellers optimize their sales offerings, and help patent strategists to make data-driven decisions. Founders Kent Richardson and Erik Oliver, Chief Operating Officer, have helped customers navigate the patent market completing more than $90M in patent transactions, and have authored over 80 publications and presentations. Their popular annual patent market report is available here. IAM Magazine has selected them to be included in the top 300 IP strategists in the world for the past eight years running. For more information, visit roipatents.com.